Swing Speed vs Distance

Swing Speed vs Distance

I’m going to give you a way to drop your score without changing your swing.  This is something that all really low handicappers know that higher handicappers have trouble with.  When I was playing well enough to actually qualify and play in PGA Tour Events I had the lofts on my irons set so I had exactly 10 yard increments between clubs.

One of the fastest ways to improve your score and your enjoyment is to learn how far you actually hit your irons consistently so you can make the right club selection. 

In my previous article I stated that you should swing at about 75 to 80 percent of your max to hit the ball better.  Hold on to that truth because it is essential that you have some control over where the ball is going to land.  As effort and tension increase, accuracy drops dramatically.

With this in mind, go to the range with what you consider your 150 yard club and hit about 30 balls with it.  Eliminate the shortest 5 and the longest 5 and then measure how far it is to the middle of the rest of them.  That is how far you hit that club.  If the average is short of the 150 then park your ego and use one more club.  It is all about score.  There are no extra points for how far you hit it off the tee or what club you hit on your approach.

I have put together a little chart that may help you using swing speed and distance.  Club selections are based on what club to use to hit the ball 150 yards.  These are general numbers that don’t take in to consideration varying lofts and lengths of different models.  If you are hitting it farther than these swing speeds indicate, then you are playing with very strong lofts.

Swing Speed                                                      150 Club

60 mph                                                                 Driver

70 mph                                                                 3 Wood

80 mph                                                                 3 or 4 hybrid

90 mph                                                                 5 or 6 iron

100 mph                                                               7 or 8 iron

The next thing you need to do is figure out the distance gap between your clubs.  At 100+ mph swing speed that gap should be about 10 yards.  As swing speed slows down that gap narrows.  When you get into the slower speeds there is no need for a full set of clubs.  If the difference between your 6 and 7 is only 5 yards you can eliminate one of them.

Now you are in a situation where you can figure your distance from the 150 and add or subtract.  If you are at 175 and the gap between clubs is 8 yards then you need you are going to need two or three more clubs.  When in doubt take the longer club and choke down on it.  Making it shorter will take some distance off of it.

Here is a simple, inexpensive device for measuring swing speed.  Not a Trackman, but tells you what you want to know.

One other thing to factor in is how are you hitting the ball today?  How solid you are hitting the ball today and weather conditions can change club selection by as much as three clubs not counting wind. 

I hope this will help you to score better and I want to thank those that took me up on my offer analyze their swings.  Keep me posted and leave comments about any questions you have.